Triptych – a Documentary Video Installation

A desert landscape. We are moving forward, pacing our steps evenly, straight ahead, always in the same direction. Tracks on the ground lead nowhere, there is no end in sight, no borders, no fences. No lines that can be crossed. The border becomes the plain we are moving in - trapped.

Three simultaneously recorded video images of a desert landscape form a panorama. While the point of view is similar to the human field of vision, it is modifed by gaps, overlaps, and distortion. Point of view and movement simulate a subjective experience. The sound of the wind, of the footsteps and breathing take us to this place.

Over the sounds of the desert we hear the voices of five African refugees – Chantal, Fiston, Camará, Bak, and Johnson – telling their stories: How they left home, in hope of finding a safe place somewhere far away; what happened to them on their journey.

We walk with them, listening, watching. Five lives – and every image of the desert tells the stories of thousands.